Taxpayers who worked ‘for themselves’ as a sole trader, business partner or director of a limited company between 6 April 2023 and 5 April 2024 must register for self-assessment by 5 October, HMRC has warned.
Any GP earning over £1,000 in self-employed income must file a tax return.
Even if they had a job at the time, GPs who locumed during this period are advised to register by the deadline.
Those who have registered in the past without sending a tax return must register again to reactivate their accounts, HMRC noted.
GPs have increasingly turned to locum work as pay and conditions for salaried GPs and GP partners deteriorated.
2023 was thought to be a growth year for GP locums. Based on the GMC’s methodology, the number of GP locums in the UK has grown from 17,000 to around 20,000, NASGP chair Dr Richard Fieldhouse warned Pulse last year. LocumDeck saw its busiest day to date on 21 October 2023.
The department offers a free tool that GPs can use to double-check their self-assessment status for 2023/24.
Dr Richard Fieldhouse said: “Our experience of how GPs work has changed considerably over the last 10 years, particularly since covid. It would be relatively unusual to meet locum colleagues who also had a substantive post like a salaried GP position, whereas now it’s relatively unusual to meet a GP locum whose sole clinical role is GP locum. Many have salaried roles, and even doing locum work to top up partnership roles.
“The rules for tax are not necessarily always clear, and our advice is always to consult a specialist medical accountant if being paid for any roles other than your regular employed work.”